real life

  • Over vacation, I read my kid siblings the beginning of my chapter book for kids. My 9-year-old sis said to tell her when I was done so she could order it from the library. I told her I’d have her read it before it was published. A day later, I explained the concept of publishing

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  • Last week, I was privileged to spend two and a half days with my grandparents. A lot of that time was spent in my grandfather’s office, where he opened a leather case containing the files of his life and unpacked stories. I now have a pad full of notes, a sampling of his past thoughts

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  • This is the fifth in a new series of weekly posts recommending well-written narrative nonfiction/longform articles. The Man Who Saves You from Yourself: Going undercover with a cult infiltrator by Nathaniel Rich, Harper’s David Sullivan, a private investigator in LA who specialized in cults, passed away last October, shortly before this article was published. The piece tells the story of

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  • Read last week’s post here or view all other New York City posts. This week, after a long, drawn-out research process that often had me missing the forest for the trees, I finally finished my internship piece to my editor’s satisfaction and he published it on City Limits’ web site. It is by no means the best thing I’ve

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  • Read last week’s post here or view all other New York City posts. I’d just settled on the bench, purse and my bag of leftover food from work on my lap, one per leg. Done with work, time to wait for the F train and go home. “Meredith?” I looked up to see a familiar face, soft round features

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  • Read last week’s post here or view all other New York City posts. It’s a battle I’ve been losing. Sure, I ran 1.4 miles today in 10:38. Sure, I followed it up with sprints and crunches and pushups. Sure, I got my heart rate up and didn’t feel awful. But I am not where I was three months

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  • Read last week’s post here or view all other New York City posts. Time is currency. And this week, mine was spent — in research and at work. With it went my energy, so rather than sitting at my desk for three-plus hours, badgering myself to write something worth reading, I present the following: a conglomeration of thoughts,

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  • Some things shouldn’t change. My first job was one that did. Last week, I posted this piece on Medium. I wrote it last semester for Advanced Creative Writing and have been holding onto it, waiting to be sure I wasn’t returning to my old job and wanting to be careful about where I shared it

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  • Read last week’s post here or view all other New York City posts. The Ironclad Building on Main Street in Cooperstown looks well-kept from the outside: two clean, windowed storefronts on the ground level, second- and third-floor windows surrounded by if not fresh, at least not peeling paint. You would never guess, from looking at the outside, that

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  • Read last week’s post here or view all other New York City posts. From all I’ve heard about the real world and what life’s like there, I don’t think New York City is it. At my college, we talk about the “Taylor Bubble” where we’re sheltered from anti-Christian influences, shepherded by faculty and mentors of mostly the same

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